Connections
by PeaceLoveAndCheese
Summary: Leo and Hazel have a strange past and a strange future. They can't have anything else in common, can they? Or is there even more they can see... that everyone else can't? When a mysterious girl shows up in their lives, is she just playing with their minds... or is there even more to the things she is saying? Not a Lazel story. Written for LaLaLand.


**Well here we are then. **

**Okay, well, now you get what I've been working on FOR THE PAST TWO WEEKS!**

**It is already 20+ pages in Microsoft Word, and over 10,000 words. Since humans have limited attention spans and a lot of words don't typically look good on a page, I figured I would post the first half (four months) now and once I write the next half (next seven months) then I will post that. So... this is now a two-shot! Yeah.**

**Anyway... the reason this is so late is because I sadly didn't research my timelines for this story BEFORE I started the story and I was about half way done with November when I figured that I should probably check over my timelines and then... THEY WERE FREAKING CROOKED! So... then I had to go write two extra months to fix it. And so there was a whole lot more than I originally expected. **

**Alright, a couple notes before we start: 1) This has A LOT of Jason. The way the timelines ended up, he had to be in here. And... I'm sort of ashamed to admit this... I absolutely ADORE his character now that I've explored it a little more (in my headcanon, lol). SOOOOOO... if you don't enjoy a surplus of Jason (there won't be as much in the next chapter[s]) then you probably won't like this, but give it a try, because I LOVED writing it. I think that Jason is sort of clueless and rather... well, you'll figure it out. **

**2) EVERY DATE IN THIS STORY IS CANON. I will make some notes at the bottom of all the canon references that ARE correct or as correct as I could figure out. I did EXTENSIVE research that took me a long time and many texts to my friends asking their opinions on these things. If you have questions, ask me in a review or PM.**

**3) This is a story written for someone, meaning it features their OC. If you don't feel into that, then just fit your OC into the story in her place or read it as a canon character. Or don't read. But I would really recommend it. **

**So... on with the story! LaLaLand, this one's for you! (And yes, a flame is a negative review! ;D)**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't have the time to own PJO. **

* * *

_August_

* * *

Time was different in the Underworld.

Hazel sat in the fields of Asphodel, her arms wrapped around her knees. She didn't know how long she had been sitting there. It could have been for just a few minutes, or it could have been days, weeks, years even. She didn't know how old she was. She was timeless, ageless, and completely and terribly alone.

The spirits in Asphodel didn't put up the best conversation. They didn't put up any conversation at all. Sometimes, on rare occasions, a spirit would come up to Hazel and touch her arm, or put their hand on her face, frowning slightly, like she was something they had lost. For all she knew, she could've been.

The spirits all looked the same. They weren't pretty, they weren't ugly, they were just... the same. Hazel didn't know what she looked like anymore. She could look like them and never know the difference, because there was nothing to compare herself too. When she looked down at her hands or her legs, wearing the same clothes she had died in, peppered with scorch marks and burned holes, she honestly didn't know whether they looked the way she thought they did or if that was just a memory too.

And so she sat there, waiting.

Waiting for what, she didn't know. But that's when something happened.

A flicker in front of her. A disturbance in the air. Something so small it shouldn't have been noticed. But if you're waiting in a field of equality and boredom, you notice even the slightest change, the smallest thing. And Hazel noticed this.

The air in front of her flickered again. And changed shape, weaving a girl out of nothing.

Hazel stared. The girl in front of her was like no one she'd ever seen. Her feet were about five inches off of the ground, as she was floating, much like a shade, but it was clear she wasn't. She had long brown hair that was blowing slightly in the air created around her. She was wearing a shirt with sleeves that came to about three inches above her elbows. Her legs were covered with bright pink pants. _Pants_. A girl was wearing pants. She turned wide greenish eyes towards Hazel. But Hazel almost didn't notice these things.

What she noticed was that the girl looked _real_.

She looked material. Like Hazel could reach out and touch her. She looked like she was standing in front of her, like she was there.

And she looked very, very frightened.

"He's coming," the girl said, her voice almost a whispered, barely heard above the faint wind. "He's coming."

"What?" Hazel said, her own voice sounding strange and unfamiliar.

"He's coming," the girl repeated. She gazed down at Hazel, the fear disappearing slightly from her eyes. She smiled, a look crossing her face that was bright and filled Hazel with a warmth that she had forgotten existed. She reached her hand out to touch Hazel's cheek. Hazel stretched her own arm out, desperately wanting to make contact with this mysterious girl, this person who was so much like herself that it hurt. She reached out and...

Touched nothing.

The girl was gone.

A few feet from where she had been standing was a teenaged boy wearing a thick black jacket. He had a sword strapped to his side and a skull ring, something that reminded Hazel of her mother. He had pale olive skin and looked as though he hadn't slept in years. He looked down at Hazel, startled. He walked over to her. Hazel drew back, frightened. He crouched down.

"Hey," he said. Hazel whimpered and scooted backwards. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Hazel peeked at him from behind her hair.

"Are you lost?" he asked, looking around for someone else who might be with her. "Who are you?"

She looked up at him, feeling her eyes growing wide in her face.

He studied her for a moment longer, his eyes growing wide. "You... no. It's not possible. But..." He stood up rapidly. "What are you trying to tell me?!" he screamed at the sky. A faint rumbling shook the ground. Hazel was scared.

The boy looked down, his fists clenched at his sides. He turned his head away slightly and breathed out, tension exiting his position.

"I'm sorry," he said, reaching out a hand to Hazel. "I'm Nico di Angelo. And you're my sister."

Hazel looked at her surroundings. There was nothing, absolutely nothing, that was here for her. And his slightly tanned skin looked so real, so inviting...

Hazel took his hand.

* * *

Leo was sitting in the very back of the bus, staring out the window and cursing the New Mexican police force within an inch of their lives.

He had been completely fine on his own, on the run from yet another foster family, until they had caught him in some run-down town on the border. He didn't even know why they still bothered. He would just run away again when they sent him back and it wasn't like anyone wanted him anyway.

The courts had decided that the best course of action would be to send him to a school for "troubled kids." Yeah, right. Leo was troubled, sure. But if they would just leave him alone then he wouldn't _be_ any trouble.

The bus stopped one last time, picking up yet another group of teenagers and their luggage from the station before it would head out to the middle of the desert, where the juvenile delinquents of the decade would live out the rest of their high schools lives. Yipee. Leo rolled his eyes at his own sarcasm and went back to staring out of the window.

The bus filled with more noise as new kids got on, filling up the remainder of the seats.

"Hey." Leo looked up to see a girl standing by him. She was pretty, with braids in her choppy hair and no makeup, like she wasn't trying at all. She was wearing a baggy sweatshirt and skinny jeans. "Can I sit here?"

Leo shrugged and moved over, folding his arms over his backpack. It didn't have very much in it, just some scrap metal and a picture of his mom. Still, besides his clothes and some bed linens the social worker had given him that were currently residing under the bus in the luggage bins, it was all he had.

The girl held out her hand. "I'm Piper."

Leo looked at her. She raised an eyebrow. "Well, come on. What's your name?"

Leo sighed and took her hand, shaking it. "Leo."

"Hi Leo," she said, smiling. "Nice to meet you." She reached into her hoodie pocket and pulled out an iPod and a pair of earbuds, putting them in.

Leo turned back to look out the window, but this time there was a slight smile on his face.

The bus drove through the desert. There really wasn't much of a change in scenery, which was murder for an ADHD kid like Leo. At one point, he thought he saw a girl sitting on a rock in the middle of nowhere. She looked a bit like Piper, with longer brown hair and bright red jeans. She waved at him and disappeared. Leo blinked, rubbing his eyes and trying to determine if he had finally snapped.

They arrived at the school in little over an hour. Leo had fallen asleep, his cheek pressed against the window. It wasn't surprising, considering he had spent most of the night before trying to break out of his locked room using a spring wire and a pocket watch. Piper shook him awake.

"We're here," she said, looking anxiously towards the front of the bus.

Leo stretched and slung his backpack over his shoulders. He followed Piper off of the bus, grabbing his stuff, which had been stuffed into two black garbage bags. Piper looked at him for a moment as she grabbed her rolling suitcase and a couple of duffel bags but didn't say anything.

"ALRIGHT, CUPCAKES!" A short stocky man wearing a baseball cap and Nike sweatpants was yelling at them through a megaphone. "I'M COACH HEDGE AND YOU WILL CALL ME THAT! I'LL BE GUIDING YOU THROUGH ORIENTATION AND YOU HAD BETTER BEHAVE YOURSELVES! NOW LEAVE YOUR LUGGAGE AT THE DOORS AND FOLLOW ME!"

The teenagers obeyed, dropping their stuff in messy heaps on the cheap linoleum.

Coach led them through the campus, shouting stuff at them that Leo really didn't pay attention to. They ended up in a room that looked suspiciously like an auditorium. Leo and Piper somehow ended up in the front row. Great.

A woman wearing a pencil skirt, very high heels and too much makeup walked out onto the stage. "Welcome, students! I'm Ms. McCarver, the headmistress of this school. I trust that we will all have a great year here together!" She went on to explain the rules of the school and a whole bunch of other boring stuff that took up time that Leo decided was better spent building miniature tank out of paperclips. He set it down and was going to try to roll it across the floor, when Ms. McCarver stopped blabbing and said, "Questions?"

Leo sat up to quickly, hitting his head against the chair in front of him and swearing under his breath a little too loudly. Ms. McCarver turned her head towards him sharply. "Yes?"

"Nothing," Leo said, rubbing his skull.

"No, nonsense. I heard you say something. Out with it..." she peered at his chest, where they had all been told to stick their name tags, although Leo's now had multiple drawings of random machines and a couple dinosaurs. "... Mr. Valdez."

Leo rolled his eyes. "Fine." He racked his brains, trying to figure out something to say. "If a rogue group of aliens suddenly attacked the school, looking for our brains to insert into their technology, what evasive maneuvers would be the most efficient? Tank missiles? Machine guns? Cafeteria food?"

Piper's eyes widened as Ms. McCarver pursed her lips and the rest of the room burst out laughing. Leo shrunk down in his seat. Less than forty-five minutes on campus and he was already going to be on somebody's hit list.

"Detention, Mr. Valdez. Tonight." She glared at the rest of the room. "And if this doesn't seem like a 'correctional facility' to you, let me just make it clear right now that there will be no toleration of any sort for anything out of line." She shook her head. "You are dismissed."

They filed out of the auditorium, teachers yelling at them to go to their dorms and unpack. Piper stared at Leo in wide-eyed amazement. "That was either really brave or really stupid."

Leo had to laugh.

He found his stuff and dragged it up three floors of stairs to his dorm room. He fitted his key into the lock and swung it open.

It was depressingly small, with two beds, one window, two closets and a pair of desks with chairs. Leo's roommate hadn't showed up yet. He threw his stuff down on the bed closet to the window, sat down on it himself and groaned.

He didn't bother to unpack, figuring that it all would be a mess in a few days anyway. His roommate still hadn't shown up when the dinner bell rang, so Leo went down to the cafeteria. His first meal was a disappointment. Tough fried chicken and those REALLY fake mashed potatoes along with a slice of stale yellow cake. He ate it, not really noticing what he was eating.

Piper was sitting with a group of girls, one of whom was probably her roommate. They were all laughing, but Piper looked very uncomfortable. She caught Leo's eye and gave him a look that said, _Help._

A young-looking teacher came up to Leo and handed him a slip of paper. "Have fun in detention."

"Thanks." Leo stood and read the room number on the paper. He had payed attention to enough of Coach Hedge's tour to find his way to the detention room, but he was still five minutes late.

An old guy was sitting at the front of the room, asleep and drooling. Leo gave him a skeptical look at sat down at a desk, twiddling his thumbs and pretending like this wasn't going to be the worst detention ever.

"Valdez, right?"

Leo turned around in his seat. Sitting in the back of the room so quietly Leo hadn't even noticed he was there was a blonde guy wearing a zip-up hoodie and jeans and looking very much like a Californian surfer. He had a scar on his upper lip and was shooting Leo a half-grin.

"Yeah," Leo said, blinking in surprise. "Leo Valdez."

"Cool," the guy said. He stood up and walked over, taking the seat next to Leo. "That was pretty funny, during orientation."

Leo shrugged. "That's just how I do things. All the time."

The guy threw back his head and laughed. Leo looked at him strangely. "It's not that funny."

"Yeah it is." He smiled again. "I'm Jason."

"Hi," Leo said. "And what are you in for?"

Jason shrugged. "Some dudes thought it would be funny if they stole all my stuff and threw it on the roof. I punched them."

"Huh," Leo said. "Nice, got a sense of humor, and violent. Looks like you're too much for me. Sorry, I'm just going to go jump of said roof now to put everyone out of their misery."

Jason laughed again. "So... which floor are you on."

"Third."

"Hey, me too!" Jason said. "That's cool, we can hang out."

"You could probably just stay in my room, considering my roommate hasn't showed yet. I don't think the teachers are going to care too much about who goes where, considering our keys look like something from the Stone Age."

Jason knit his eyebrows. "What's your room number?"

"345."

"Really?" Jason exclaimed, pulling a folded piece of paper from his pocket. "Hey, I'm your roommate!"

"Wow." Leo looked over his shoulder at the number written on the paper. "Well, that explains it."

"Explains what?"

"Why you weren't waiting in our room to welcome me. You were too busy flying around, beating people up and getting your stuff off of roofs."

Jason looked at him strangely. "Flying... never mind. Hey, do you want to see how many Lady Gaga songs we can sing before Mr. Sloch over there wakes up?"

"I don't know any Lady Gaga songs."

Jason shrugged. "Neither do I, but I'm pretty sure that they all have to have 'gaga' in them at least once and be about random stuff nobody cares about."

"Sounds legit," Leo said, grinning at his roommate.

_Looks like Wilderness School might not be the worst place to be, _Leo thought. _It's sure better than New Mexico. _

* * *

_September_

* * *

"Don't look at me like that," Nico said, turning his back on Hazel and walking up the hill.

She glared at his back. His posture stayed straight and immaculate for about three seconds before his shoulders slumped and he half-turned back towards his sister. "Look, I'm sorry. I don't want to take you there, but I have to. You know that."

"Then why aren't you coming with me?" Hazel asked, not for the first time.

Nico gave her a look that said, _You've asked me this before and I'm not going to tell you. _He took a glance at her face though, and sighed.

"I don't belong there, Hazel."

"Neither do I," Hazel protested, trying to use her brother's argument against him.

He gave her a pained smile. "Trust me, it's not like my home..." He trailed off on the world _home_, like he was uncomfortable using that word to describe where he was from. "But from what I've seen, you'll be okay."

"Your home is the Underworld," Hazel grumbled. Nico shot her a look. Hazel knew she was being disagreeable, but after spending over a month with just her and Nico, she wasn't ready to give up the only person she had felt actually cared for her. Of course, that definition of "caring" would be Nico running her ragged every day, beating on her during their training, and making sure she knew how to survive. But then again, he also was the one who reintroduced her to the real world and the one who smoothed the skin back over the scars on her heart and the one who stood by her just when she was starting to feel that everyone had given up on her. And he hadn't given her to the wolves. He had trained her himself. He had been, dare she say it, her family.

"Not my choice," Nico said. "I was told to stay there."

"By who?" Hazel challenged.

"Well, technically by my dad, but also Per-" He cut himself off, his back going ramrod straight.

"What?" Hazel asked. Her brother rarely told her anything about his past life, other than why he had found her and after that conversation, he made it clear that that topic was off-limits.

True to his dark, self-dependent self, Nico stayed silent and continued his trek up the hill. He stopped at the top, his messy black hair blowing in the wind. "Here we are."

Hazel arrived at his side, brushing her hair away from her face. She gazed across the valley, marble buildings gleaming in the light. Pegasi were flying through the air and Hazel could hear the faint shouts and clanging of swords as demigods trained down below her.

She turned her face away from the sight in front of her and looked back at Nico. His head was bowed, looking at his feet. Hazel couldn't tell what he was thinking by his profile.

She reached out and touched his arm. He flinched, unused to human contact. "You're coming with me, right?"

Nico shook his head. "They... don't like me very much. You can get in on my good word, but I shouldn't come with you. I tend to... not help with good first impressions."

Hazel bit her lip and threw her arms around her brother. She felt him stiffen in surprise, but his arms slowly wound around Hazel and held her tightly.

"I'll miss you," Hazel said, squeezing her eyes shut and curling her fingers into her brother's coat.

"Me too," Nico said softly, pressing his face into her shoulder. Hazel knew that he had already lost one sister, and couldn't imagine what he was feeling at losing another one. Then again, maybe she could, considering she had lost one family and was now was losing probably the one person in the world who cared about her.

Nico sighed and stepped back. "Well, you should probably be getting down there." He smiled weakly. "Good luck, Hazel."

Hazel brushed her hair back again and turned away from her brother. She took a deep breath and started back down the hill. She looked back at Nico. He waved a hand at Hazel and stepped into the shadow of a tree, disappearing entirely. There was no turning back now.

Hazel spun back towards the valley and smacked straight into someone.

"Sorry!" Hazel exclaimed, stumbling backwards. In front of her was a girl with long brown hair. "You!"

The girl glanced around nervously. "You made it. The worst is yet to come."

"What?" Hazel said. The girl stepped backwards. "I saw you. You said, 'He is coming.' Did you mean Nico?"

"He is coming," the girl said. "The worst is yet to come."

"What do you mean?"

"The worst is yet to come," the girl said, starting to fade.

"Wait!" Hazel called. "What's your name?"

The girl looked back and smiled slightly. "Nora. You made it."

And she disappeared again.

* * *

Leo could hear Piper screaming right as he hit the water.

Immediately he was immersed in bubbles flying upwards as he sank downwards into the cold water. He opened his eyes, seeing nothing but white foam and wavery images as the surface grew farther and farther away. His toes touched the bottom as his lungs began running out of air. He pushed up, pulling his arms downward as he tried to resurface...

When he did, Jason was laughing and floating on his back and Piper was looking outraged and happy at the same time while trying to dunk him under the water. Jason flailed around a bit before pretending to drown.

A whistle blew from the side of the pool. "Valdez!" Coach Hedge was the lifeguard for today. "No more cannonballs or you'll be swimming laps with Anderson!"

Leo looked over at the lap pool where a disgruntled boy was paddling back and forth, having received the punishment for running and whipping his friends with wet towels. "Yes, sir!" He snapped Coach a salute and ducked back under the water as the teacher glared at him.

He turned back to his friends. Jason was pretending to be dead while Piper poked his stomach, telling him that she wasn't fooled for a moment. Leo dove under the water and came up, grabbing Piper's ankle with one hand and dragging Jason down with the other. Piper shrieked and Jason tried to yell, "Hey!" but ended up with a mouthful of chlorine and came back up coughing.

It was Fitness Day for the school and there had been a wide variety of activities to choose from... including swimming with Coach Hedge. Since that didn't sound as bad as Flag Football or Gymnastics or Dodgeball, Leo, Jason, and Piper had all signed up for it. So far, it was pretty fun. Coach Hedge kept yelling and blowing his whistle for no apparent reason and all the girls in their bikinis glared at Leo when he looked in their direction, but all in all it was probably the most fun he'd had since school started.

Someone yelled, "Marco!" from the other side of the pool, and immediately everyone else screamed "Polo!" and splashed around, trying to get away from the person who was It and pretty much failing dreadfully. Leo knew why. This was a correctional facility. Of course they cheated at Marco Polo.

He grinned and joined in the game.

"I'm done," Jason said about half an hour later. "I've been It four times. I don't know how they do it."

Leo could take a guess. All the girls went after Jason, probably because, in the words of Piper when she had first met him, he was "hot" and Jason was too nice to actually do anything but pretend to try. It was sort of annoying really. Leo hadn't been It at all and Piper had given up five minutes into the game and resigned to watching from the side of the pool while glaring at Dylan when he tried to hit on her.

"Okay," Leo agreed. "Let's go get a drink."

They clambered out of the pool and gathered Piper, who had wrapped herself in a towel. Leo headed for the vending machines and had just gotten a Coke when it was snatched from his hands.

"Oh no you don't, Valdez," Piper said. "No caffeine. You don't need it." She handed him a water bottle. "This is mine."

"You never let me have any fun," Leo whined, but dutifully took the water. It was sort of a game with them, Leo always buying soda and sugary stuff and Piper never letting him eat it.

Jason shook his head, munching on a bag of Bugles. "You both don't need it."

"Well, you're not getting any, so forget about it," Piper said, walking back over to her stuff and setting her towel down. When she wasn't looking, Jason grabbed the soda and took a mouthful, setting it back before Piper turned back around.

Leo rolled his eyes. They were all such children.

Piper had caught Jason with her soda and was slapping him on the arm while yelling at him about respecting peoples' property. Jason was grinning and pelting her with chips. Coach Hedge was glaring and yelling at them to stop throwing food.

Leo took a sip of his water and looked over at the rest of his classmates. Anderson was still swimming back and forth, stopping every so often to check out some girls who walked by. Most of them were in packs, either lying on towels like they were at the beach or flirting with the guys or making fun of everyone else they didn't think looked good in a bathing suit. Sadly, Leo was probably one of the latter. The guys were all playing with water footballs and using those foam noodle things as swords and generally trying to beat each other up with pool toys and water.

Someone at the edge of the pool caught Leo's eye. It was a girl that he'd never seen before, but looked surprisingly familiar. She had long dark hair and a t-shirt with a band he'd never heard of on it, matched with purple jeans. She smiled at Leo and turned to look at her feet, which were currently in the water.

Leo looked back at his friends, who were being berated by Coach and giggling while failing miserably at trying to look sheepish, and made his way over to the girl.

She didn't look up when he sat down.

"Um, hi," Leo said. "I'm Leo-"

"I know," she said.

"Okay..." Leo was a bit confused now. "Who are you?"

She just smiled at him. "I know."

Leo laughed uneasily, not sure if she was being funny or serious. "Yeah, I know you know who you are. But I don't."

"I know."

"Is that all you're going to say to me? Because it's kind of annoying."

"I know." The girl's eyes sparkled with mischief. It reminded Leo of himself.

He held up his hands. "I give up. There's no point in arguing with you."

The girl gave him a cheeky smile. "I-"

"Leo!" Piper was yelling at him from across the pool. "Come on! Coach is making us organize a game of Pool Tag that doesn't involve running!" Leo couldn't see it, but he figured Piper was probably rolling her eyes. "Jason's already started getting people together!" Leo could see his friends talking to a group of girls, who were making flirty faces at him as he ran a hand through his hair, trying to convince them to help them make Coach happy. It looked like they were agreeing.

"Just a sec, I need to finish talking to-" Leo turned back to the girl, but she was gone. Strange. Leo shook his head and stood up, making his way over to Piper.

"Are we going to do any organizing?"

Piper folded her arms. "I'm supervising. You can go, but I'm pretty sure Jason has got this one." Sure enough, most of the girls were in the pool, bowing to Jason's super-guy skills. The guys caught notice of all the girls and where jumping in the pool too, causing the girls to squeal. Jason was trying to round everyone up and explain some rules, the main one being "No running", totally oblivious as always.

"He's so clueless sometimes," Leo muttered.

"Yeah," Piper agreed, biting her lip and twirling her hair.

Leo glanced at her. "What's up with you?"

"Nothing, Valdez," Piper said, jumping into the water and splashing her way over to the group.

Leo tossed his water bottle onto the lounge chair next to him, climbed in and paddled after her.

"Hey," Jason said. "Do you get the whole 'No running' thing? Because if I mess this up, Coach will murder me. Or give me detention."

"I know," Leo said, staring towards the other side of the pool.

* * *

_October_

* * *

"Hazel!"

Hazel turned around. It had been a long day and she wanted nothing more than to go to dinner, get a hot bath and collapse into her bed.

Instead, it looked like someone had made plans for her. Gwen, Dakota and Jason were walking towards her, Dakota almost at a loping run, mostly because of all the sugar he was high on. Gwen still had her helmet on and her sword strapped to her waist. Jason's hair was a mess and he looked exhausted, but he was grinning.

Dakota slung an arm over her shoulders. "What do you say we skip out on dinner and go to the top of the Big Hill and stargaze?"

Hazel rolled her eyes. "No offense, Dakota, but stargazing with you means that we'll end up playing Hide-And-Seek in the dark and Jason will end up spraining an ankle again."

"Hey," Jason said. "That was totally not my fault."

"Yes it was," Gwen said, nudging him. "Wait... no it's not. You did trip over Dakota and end up rolling down the entire hill."

"But that was because I had gotten tackled by Hazel!" Dakota protested.

"And that was because you said I ran like a girl!"

"It's true!"

"I am a girl!"

"It still hurt," Jason put in.

"You baby," Dakota said, tossing his flask from one hand to the other.

Gwen rolled her eyes at them. "Stop it, all of you, or you're not getting any picnic."

"Picnic?" Hazel was interested.

Gwen held up a basket. "The guys made me pack us dinner if I was going to drag them off to go stargazing. But I don't want to be the only girl on this expedition, so you're coming too."

"I'm still in my armor," Hazel protested.

"Then take it off," Gwen suggested.

"Ooh!" Dakota promptly started singing Ke$ha, only to be elbowed in the stomach by Jason to get him to stop.

"We'll help you carry it," Jason said, grabbing Hazel's helmet and tucking it under his arm. "Besides, you can just dump it at the top of the hill."

Hazel sighed. "I'm not getting out of this, am I?"

"Nope!" Dakota exclaimed cheerily.

"Okay, then, let's go."

"Yay!"

"Dakota?" Jason said.

"Yes, Jason?"

"Don't do that, you sound gay."

Dakota kicked him.

The four of them made their way to the top of the hill, the prime spot for stargazing. Dakota immediately plopped down on the grass, took a swig of Kool-Aid and grabbed the picnic basket from Gwen, digging through to find his sandwich.

"Dakota!"

"What?" he asked, through a mouthful of sandwich. "I'm hungry!"

Gwen snatched the basket back and handed out sandwiches and lemonade to everyone. Hazel hadn't realized how hungry she was and devoured the sandwich in a matter of minutes. She wasn't the only one though. Jason was downing the last of his lemonade, crumbs on his lap the only evidence of him ever having food. Gwen was being more ladylike, but she was more than halfway done. Dakota had long since finished with his dinner and was digging through the basket, looking for more food. "Cookies!"

"Hey!" Gwen slapped his hand. "Those are for later!"

"It's later now!"

"By one second!" Dakota gave her puppy eyes and she sighed. "No."

"Pwease?"

"You know that doesn't work on me, Dakota."

"Fine," Dakota huffed. He turned to Jason and Hazel. "Can I recruit you too in my quest?"

"You got a quest?" Hazel asked in surprise.

"Sure." Dakota grinned. "My Quest-To-Get-The-Cookies-Away-From-Gwen. I can choose two companions, can't I, praetor?"

Jason grimaced at his title. "Sure, whatever. I don't care."

"The praetor has spoken!" Dakota said grandly, raising his hands toward the sky. "Look, I'm like Octavian, only much nicer and much less creepy! And..." He paused dramatically. "I choose... you!" He pointed at Hazel. She laughed.

"Ugh, do NOT mention Octavian again tonight," Jason said, lying back on the grass, a scowl crossing his face.

"Is he causing problems again?" Gwen asked, while hugging the cookie tin to her chest, as Dakota was currently poking her with blades of grass in an attempt to get her to hand him one.

Jason exhaled thickly. "Well... not anything we can get him in trouble for. You know how he is. Reyna says that he's perfectly capable and that I should stop being biased towards him, but she doesn't know _what_ he's capable of. He's so annoying and he just causes problems that _I _get blamed for and Reyna doesn't even notice and I'll bet she thinks I'm going insane or not fit to be praetor or something and it's all just-" He cut himself off when he noticed his friends staring at him. "Sorry, I got carried away."

Dakota waved him off. "Nah, don't worry about it. If you can't rant about your archenemy to your friends, who can you rant to?"

"But-" Jason was about to start giving his usual excuses about how, being praetor, he was supposed to be fair to everyone and how he wasn't doing his job correctly if he talked about Octavian that way, even though the auger clearly deserved it. Hazel cut him off.

"Just stop, Jason. We all need to vent sometimes."

Jason sighed and lay back again, folding his arms behind his head. Gwen lay back too and started pointing out different stars and constellations. Dakota had gotten up and was currently trying to catch fireflies. Hazel looked over the camp and jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Dakota, what-" She stopped suddenly when she saw the girl who she had seen twice now behind her. She was smiling, but as her eyes drifted over to Jason, she stopped, looking worried. "What's wrong?"

"Danger," Nora said.

"What kind of danger?" Hazel asked. "Are you okay?"

Nora shook her head and looked towards Jason sadly for a moment, before looking back at Hazel. She seemed to remember her news, because a smile lit up her face again. "He is coming!"

"Who?" Hazel asked, grasping Nora's forearm. "Who's coming?"

Nora just smiled. She stood up from her kneeling position beside Hazel and walked over to Jason, bending down and placing a kiss on his forehead. He didn't seem to feel it or even notice Nora was there. She stroked his hair gently and then stood up and walked down the hill.

"Wait!" Hazel called after her, but she was gone.

"Are you talking to yourself Hazel?" Dakota said, throwing his handful of fireflies back into the air.

"No," Hazel said, still staring after Nora.

"Well then!" Dakota brushed his hands off. "You must come with me! Our quest has begun! ATTACK!" He jumped on top of Jason. "Get the other one!"

"Ow!" Jason said, folding in on Dakota.

"Dakota, don't even think about it!" Gwen said, holding the cookies up above her head, out of Dakota's reach.

Hazel sighed and grabbed the tin from Gwen's hands.

"Hazel, you traitor!" Gwen yelled.

"Yes!" Dakota exclaimed from his current position on top of Jason. "Run Hazel! Run my victorious vixen!"

"Dakota?" Jason said.

"Yes Jason?"

"Don't do that, you sound gay."

"Thou shalt not get awayeth!" Dakota yelled, leaping from Jason onto Gwen, who was currently trying to get up after Hazel, but fell again in a mass of Dakota limbs. Jason scrambled up, but managed to trip over one of Dakota's legs in the dark and went down.

"Ow!"

Hazel had run about fifteen feet before realizing that her friends weren't going anywhere, considering Jason had his legs tangled up with Dakota's, who was making it very difficult for anyone to get up with his arms wrapped around Gwen's waist. She climbed on top of a rock outcropping and opened the cookie tin.

"Ooh, chocolate chip! Hey Dakota, there's chocolate up here!"

"Gimme!" Dakota managed to sound like a three year old while he was lying facef first on the grass. Gwen was wriggling out of his grip, laughing despite herself. Jason had detangled himself and was running towards Hazel, leaping up the rocks with the skill of a trained fighter.

"Hazel, if you give me a cookie, I promise that I shall not help Gwen any longer!" Jason said, holding out a hand.

"Okay," Hazel agreed, handing him a cookie.

"Mmmm, still warm," Jason murmured in contentment. He waved his cookie in the air. "Look what you're missing Dakota!"

Dakota looked at them and shot up with a speed Gwen didn't think possible. He dragged her over to the outcropping and clambered up it. "I wanna cookie!"

Hazel passed him one, ignoring the death glare Gwen was giving her. "Sorry."

Gwen rolled her eyes. "You guys are such children."

Dakota bumped her playfully with his elbow. "That's why you love me."

"I said, 'you guys.'"

"Yes, but I'm clearly the only one that you love." Dakota folded his arms in satisfaction, popping the last of his cookie into his mouth.

"Oooookay," Jason said, sliding down the rock. "It's time for bed. We are all going to sleep before Dakota says something really stupid, although it might be too late."

"Yes sir, Jason Grace, sir, praetor of all Rome, sir! The most high and mighty! Dobby is very glad to serve you sir!"

"You've read Harry Potter?" Gwen asked in surprise.

"You can read?" Jason shot at Dakota.

"Dobby has heard of Jason Grace's greatness, sir, but Dobby would never have thought to be so lucky as to steal his cookie from him, sir!"

"Wha-"Jason looked down, only to see that his cookie had indeed been snatched from him and was now making it's way down to Dakota's stomach. "Hey!"

Dakota shrugged. "My sister made me watch all the movies."

"You're going to get it!" Jason said.

"You've gotta catch me first!" Dakota hollered, already running down the hill. Jason took after, followed by Gwen yelling something about how she was never baking cookies for them again.

Hazel grinned and ran after her friends, leaving her armor and the picnic basket and all thoughts of mystical warnings behind her.

After all, there was always tomorrow.

* * *

Leo was running.

Honestly, this time, it wasn't his fault. If it was anyone's fault, it should be Piper and Jason's. They had been who-knows-where at the time. He needed full supervision at least twenty-four seven. That was their job, as friends. But lately, it seemed like Jason and Piper had decided that Leo was not as much a friend as that annoying kid who was kept around because he was good for a laugh.

And okay, _maybe_ filling all the toilets in the teacher's lounge with lime jell-o was asking for trouble, but that stuff was disgusting anyway. Plus, it was hilarious to see the faces of the faculty when they went to do their business. Most of their expressions were something like, _Great Scott! What is this gelatin confection doing in the way of my bowel movements?!_

And it might not have been the best idea to be hanging around in the bathrooms to watch the results of his genius. But how could he have known that Silly String and duct tape wasn't enough to keep you firmly attached to the ceiling of a bathroom? It wasn't his fault that he had landed on top of Mrs. Higgins when he had come detatched. Besides, it was probably a good thing that she had broken his fall. Falling all the way from the ceiling to a tiled bathroom floor was _not _what Leo called a good time.

Whatever the case, the teachers and staff were not amused. And he was currently being chased by at least half of them.

Through the girls' dorms.

Where he wasn't supposed to be in the first place, rules being what they were, but it was a school for bad kids. If the adults expected them all to be perfect little angels and not go running around in each others' rooms in the middle of the night looking for someone to make out with, then they had another think coming. Not that Leo did that sort of stuff. He was usually too busy figuring out how to activate the sprinkler system in the principal's office to bother with those sorts of things.

Since he was currently high-tailing it through a girls dormitory, he really shouldn't have been surprised to run into a girl.

However, he didn't expect the girl to actually help him. Especially after he knocked her down.

And yes, he ran smack into her, throwing them both off of their feet.

"Ow," Leo said, rubbing his head, causing his hair to stick up in even more directions.

The girl who was currently sprawled on the ground opposite him was starting to sit up. And man, she was gorgeous. Long brown hair, large hazel eyes, California tan, t-shirt hugging her form nicely, in Leo's opinion. He might have given up the chase right there, if she would've given him her number. And if she hadn't jumped up the next second, looking down the hall at the rapidly approaching faculty members.

She grabbed his wrist with a surprising force and yanked him onto his feet, dragging him down the hall while Leo stumbled over his own feet. They turned a corner and she pulled him through the nearest door, which happened to lead to the janitor's closet.

Leo fell over on a mop, his hands stretched out to break his fall as the girl slammed the door shut. One hand landed in a bucket of warm, gross-feeling water. The other slipped on the wet floor, sending Leo downwards, his chin slamming onto something hard, most likely the floor. Stars erupted in front of his eyes as the lower half of his face exploded in pain. That was going to leave a mark.

When he blinked them away, it was almost completely dark. He could hear footsteps gradually getting softer. Light from the cracks in the door and the small window illuminated the girl he had tripped over. She had her ear pressed against the door, listening, one hand on the door handle. Leo groaned. She put a finger to her lips. He froze.

The girl slowly sank down into a sitting position, seeming certain that their pursuers were gone. She looked at Leo and gave him a half-smile.

Leo's thoughts were muddy, but the two things that stood out prominently were "thanks for saving my butt" and "are you single?" Neither of which he actually asked her.

"Who are you?"

She looked back towards the door, leaning her head against it.

"Your time is coming."

"What?" Leo said, utterly confused. First she just helps him out without questioning why the heck he is running from a whole bunch of staff members, but then starts spouting ominous warnings. "Is that good or bad?"

She rolled her eyes at him.

"I'll take that as you aren't going to tell me. Am I right?"

"Your time is coming," she repeated, before standing up and opening the door. She gave him one last glance before stepping out and closing the door slightly behind her.

"Wait!" Leo called, wriggling up off the floor. He shoved the mop over and shook his hand off, green-tinged water dripping down. He wrinkled his nose in disgust and pushed open the door, bursting into the hallway. He looked up and down the linoleum covered walkway.

No one was there.

No sign of anyone ever being there.

Great. Another hot girl who had managed to elude him.

Leo sighed and decided to head back to his room that he shared with Jason.

"Where've you been?" Jason asked. He and Piper were sitting on his bed, playing Poker by the looks of the cards spread out in front of them.

"Oh my God, Leo, what happened to your face?" Piper said, hopping off of the mattress and coming over to touch his chin.

He brushed her hand away and made a beeline for the bathroom, hoping that if he turned the shower on, Piper and Jason would leave him alone. He didn't really want to talk at the moment. Besides, he could hear their voices outside, trying to figure it out for themselves. All he could think about was that girl, the girl who he'd known for approximately two minutes and who had said only four words to him.

_Your time is coming. _

* * *

_November_

* * *

Hazel felt like crying. This wasn't a new feeling. She hadn't seen Nico since she had first gotten to Camp Jupiter and training was beating down on all of them as it had been the past four weeks. Reyna locked herself in house almost every night and refused to do any actual leading until she was allowed to leave camp, but Octavian was making it difficult by having the auguries rule against it. Dakota had been thrust into leading the fifth cohort along with Gwen and let no one call him Centurion. He'd been completely sober for days. And all of these events were connected in one horrible, terrifying way.

Jason was missing.

Hazel remembered the last time she'd seen him. It was walking back from dinner. He'd looked particularly exhausted, his blonde hair limp on his forehead and his toga hanging off one shoulder and falling apart. Hazel knew that this meant Octavian had caused some particular controversy at the latest Senate meeting that Jason had had to deal with. She ran to catch up with him.

"Jason!"

He turned and gave her a weak smile. "Hey, Hazel."

"Any plans for tonight?"

He shook his head. "I'm really tired, I think I'm just going to go back to my house and sleep for a week."

"Or twelve hours."

Jason sighed and rubbed a hand over his eyes. "That'll do too."

Hazel gave him a concerned look. "You really should get some rest. You look awful."

He looked at her through bleary eyes and gave her a weak smile. "Thanks a lot."

"I'm serious!" Hazel said. "Is there something wrong? I've never seen you look this tired."

"I don't know," Jason admitted. "It might all just be catching up with me. I'm just-" He yawned and ran a hand through his hair.

"Looking like you're about to collapse," Hazel said, grasping his elbow as Jason swayed dangerously. "Should we go to the infirmary?"

"No," Jason mumbled, eyelids fluttering. "I'll be fine if I just... get... home..." His knees buckled and Hazel wrapped her arms around his waist to keep him from collapsing entirely. The Romans had certainly made Hazel stronger, but Jason was still one hundred and fifty pounds of muscle that she could barely keep awake, much less carry back to his house.

She made a decision. "I'm going to go get Dakota, okay?" Jason nodded sleepily as she leaned him up against a wall. Hazel made sure he wasn't in any danger of falling again and dashed off, looking for Dakota.

She spotted him near their barracks, talking to another guy from the Third.

"Dakota!" Hazel called as she ran up. "Dakota!"

He turned and smiled. "Hey Hazy Haze! What's up?"

"Jason," Hazel panted. "Something's wrong."

Dakota's eyes widened. He said goodbye to his friend and sprinted off. Hazel groaned and took off after him. He eventually slowed down enough for Hazel to run alongside him, leading him towards their friend.

Jason was still in the same position that Hazel had left him in, only now, there was a girl sitting next to him, letting him rest his head on her shoulder and stroking his hair. It was Nora.

Dakota raced towards him, kneeling down and placing a hand on Jason's shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Hazel looked towards Nora, who shook her head and smiled sadly. She stood up, making Jason tilt to the side. Dakota caught him and started asking rapid questions.

"Nora...?" Hazel asked. The girl patted Hazel's shoulder and smiled.

"He is coming."

"What do you mean?" Hazel asked, almost frustrated. But Nora had disappeared.

Dakota had gotten Jason up and was half-dragging, half-carrying him towards his house. Hazel caught up with them and slipped underneath Jason's other arm, helping Dakota lift him up. Jason's head lolled and Hazel could see his eyes flicking back and forth until they settled on Dakota. Jason mumbled something incomprehensible and tried to walk, but tripped over his own feet.

Meanwhile, Dakota was berating him on the other side. "... you idiot, why wouldn't you _tell_ someone you were getting run down? We could've given you caffeine or something or at least had you go to sleep before... this! Why didn't you say something?"

Jason muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, "Weakness."

Dakota rolled his eyes and said something that wasn't too friendly towards wolves.

They made it to Jason's house and got him inside. Dakota dragged his friend out of his toga and helped Hazel get him to lie down on the bed. He grasped Hazel's wrist as he tried to stay awake.

"Thanks..."

Hazel smiled. "You're welcome. Go to sleep, Jason."

"Mmm," he murmured. "That sounds nice..." His eyes slipped closed and his breathing evened out.

Dakota stood up and shook his head. "The idiot." He turned and briskly walked out of the room. Hazel followed, not wanting to stay in Jason's quarters any longer than necessary. It was immaculate and yet looked very homey, at least to the certain person who lived there.

Dakota was standing outside, looking up at the sky. "Is it bad that I worry about him?"

Hazel shook her head. "No. I do too."

He glanced at her. "Yeah. Out of curiosity, why?"

Hazel followed his gaze to the stars. "Because he feels like he has to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders. And someday, I think that might kill him. The world is heavy, Dakota."

Dakota nodded and squared his shoulders. "Then it's good that he has us to help him bare it." He took a drink from his flask, the last one Hazel would see him take for a long time. "Goodnight, Hazel."

"Night, Dakota." They turned and went their separate ways.

And in the morning, Jason was gone.

* * *

Leo was running.

Again.

Only this time, he was sprinting through the pouring rain. At night.

His sweat mixed with the rain. He couldn't tell what sort of water was pouring down his face, but he didn't care. Leo didn't cry, no matter what other people thought.

The school was getting smaller and smaller behind him. He was running straight towards the desert, with nothing except for the clothes on his back and the student ID badge he wore around his neck. That didn't matter either. If the school, if Jason and Piper didn't want him around, then he wouldn't be around. He'd just leave.

They didn't understand. Jason and Piper were good friends, the best he'd ever had, but they didn't understand. They both had parents, or a parent and they had each other. Jason had told Leo the other day that he and Piper had started going out, confirming Leo's suspicions that he was destined to be left out. Of everything. Forever.

The bigger, meaner kids in that school-meaning, all of them-didn't understand either. They pushed him and pushed him and he just couldn't push back. He pretended like it didn't bother him, the cracks about his size and looks and awkwardness and the fact that he could only sit still for a combined total of six seconds. But when they brought up the fact that he didn't have someone who had sent him here because they loved him and wanted to help him, when they brought up the fact that he didn't have anyone to come visit him or to take him home someday or to send him presents on Christmas, it sent a white-hot fire throughout his entire body, consuming him like the fire that had killed his mom.

Leo's foot caught a rut in the dirt and he was sent sprawling into a puddle, pain shooting up his arm as his fell on his side, dirty water splashing up into his face. He lay on the ground for a moment, shuddering, before he pulled himself up to his hands and knees, coughing. He almost wanted to just give up, just lie down and close his eyes and give up.

And then someone was touching his face, their fingers warm against his cheek. He raised tired eyes and saw the girl with long brown hair and hazel eyes looking down at him. She was surprisingly dry, considering the weather outside.

"Leo," she said, smiling sadly.

"W-who are you?" Leo choked out.

"A friend," she said. "Stop, Leo."

"Stop? Stop what?"

"Stop running," the girl said, brushing his wet hair away from his eyes. "Stop."

"Why?" Leo asked.

The girl looked around at the dark surrounding them, the rain making it hard to see anything, even if it wasn't nighttime. And then she kissed him.

It was the first time Leo had ever been kissed. By a girl. Although, it was the first time he'd ever been kissed. Period. But his brain seemed unable to form actual thoughts at the moment, so Leo just settled for closing his eyes and thinking something like, _UHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH... what?_

When he opened his eyes again, the girl was gone. He could still feel her touch and could hear her voice... no, those were different voices.

"Leo!" Piper.

"Leo?" Jason.

Leo stayed quiet, his friends only a few moments away from finding him. Instead, he looked up at the sky, the rain falling onto his face, wondering exactly what had happened. Or if it had happened at all.

"Leo!" A hand grasped his shoulder and he looked up at Piper's worried face. "How long have you been out here? You're completely soaked!" Jason's face appeared in his vision, holding an umbrella over the three of them.

"You had us worried, man," he said. "Don't do that."

Piper helped Leo up, checking him over like a mother hen. "Your wrist!" She touched the swollen appendage and Leo yelped. He hadn't even realized he had hurt it until Piper's fingertips sent pain shooting up his arm.

"Ooh," Jason said, looking at his friend's wrist. "That doesn't look fun. It doesn't seem to be broken, though." He took Leo's hand gently in his, checking it over. Leo tried not to hiss in pain.

"Come on, let's get you back to school and warm you up," Piper said, draping her jacket over his shoulders. "You're shaking." In fact, he was, tremors running up and down his body as he hugged his arm to his chest, not saying a word.

Jason seemed to get it and wordlessly put an arm around Leo's shoulders, sending warmth through his body. Piper took that as a cue and wrapped an arm around Leo's waist, squishing him in the middle of a sandwich, not caring that Leo was soaking wet and freezing.

As they made there way back towards the school, Leo allowed himself a smile.

They weren't a family, but they would do.

* * *

_December_

* * *

Romans didn't celebrate Christmas.

Hazel found this out on Christmas Eve. She had been vaguely excited, because she had gotten a letter from Nico through Hermes, saying that he would visit her during the holiday. Having had no sign of her brother since he had left her a month back, she was going to greatly appreciate him showing up. She had had a wonderful fantasy of what they would've done together, considering Hazel still didn't have many real friends at camp. But then, when she asked someone what exactly went on at Christmas at Camp Jupiter, they just looked at her like she was insane and said, "Training."

Which was why Hazel was sparring with a girl about her age in the arena on Christmas morning. There was no sign of Nico.

The girl thrashed Hazel easily. While Hazel was a decent swordfighter, she very much preferred to use her "natural" surroundings while fighting. Plus, she was very much distracted that day, just going through the motions to training and escaping at the end of the day. She walked out of the arena, drinking from her water bottle as groups of friends ran by, laughing, excited to be done for the day.

Hazel dumped her armor on her bunk, untied her curly hair and set out into the town. She stopped and got a hot chocolate and a couple of Christmas cookies from a shop owner and made her way up the hill near the forum to sit in the grass. A nice breeze blew through her hair, winter in California being anything but unpleasant. She sat down on the grass, placing her hot chocolate in between her knees. She had just bitten the point off of her Christmas star cookie when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

Haze turned, causing the girl to jump. "Nora?"

The girl waved and sat down beside Hazel.

Hazel wasn't really sure what to say. "Are you here to tell me that 'He is coming' or something equally creepy?"

Nora shook her head. "Merry Christmas, Hazel." She lay down and looked up at the sky, not saying another word.

"Merry Christmas," Hazel said softly. She lay back as well and closed her eyes.

...

"Hazel?"

Hazel's eyes flew open as she looked to her side. Nora was gone. In her place was Nico.

Hazel sat up and threw her arms around her brother.

"Hey, Haze-ah!"

"Nico?" Hazel immediately drew back and studied his face. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm fine." The fact that his arms were wrapped tightly around his middle told Hazel he was lying. She noticed a cut on his cheek and touched it gingerly. "Okay, maybe not so fine. Monster attack on the way up here. That's why I was late. Sorry." He pulled a plastic water bottle from inside his coat and took a drink. "I'll be fine."

Hazel nodded and handed him the other cookie that was in her pocket. An angel. Nico took the cookie and smiled. "Thanks." He lay back on the grass beside her. "Merry Christmas, Hazel."

Hazel looked back up at the sky and smiled.

* * *

Leo actually celebrated Christmas for the first time since his mom died. And this time, he actually had something to celebrate.

* * *

**Phew.**

**This might actually be the story I am the most proud of. I am serious. If ****Forest of the Dead**** ends up ANYTHING like this... oh, I will be in heaven.**

**Alright:**

**CANONICAL REFERENCES:**

**1) In ****_The Lost Hero_****, when Piper is talking to Annabeth, Annabeth mentions their (she and Percy's) anniversary: August 18th. Piper says that is when she met Jason SO! We can assume that Wilderness school started sometime in mid-August, which is when she would have to have met Leo (of course, all the memories of Jason are Mist, but I digress).**

**2) In ****_The Son of Neptune _****and in ****_The Lost Hero_****, Hazel is referenced as one of Jason's friends, having known him for about a month before he disappeared. NOW THIS IS WHERE IT GETS CONFUSING: In TSoN, it is said that Jason disappeared in October, meaning Hazel would've had to have arrived in early September. NOW WE KNOW FROM PAST CANON REFERENCES THAT PIPER AND LEO WOULD'VE ALREADY "MET" JASON (i.e. in August at Wilderness School). SO IT IS PERFECTLY POSSIBLE FOR JASON TO BE IN TWO PLACES AT ONCE IN THIS STORY.**

**3) In ****_The Son of Neptune,_********_Frank is said to not have arrived until a month after Jason disappeared, meaning late November to early December. IN MY HEADCANON I have Frank as a character who Hazel did not get to know well UNTIL JANUARY (i.e. next chapter), mostly because the book also referenced Frank as a misfit of the Romans, so I have a feeling everyone avoided him. HOWEVER THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT HE IS NOT THERE FOR THE LAST COUPLE OF MONTHS (November and December). Since TSoN never said EXACTLY when Hazel and Frank became friends (in all possibilities, Hazel could've hated Frank because she says that everyone tried to pair them up, so human instinct would want her to get as far away from him as possible). So we shall get Frazel origins in the next chapter. _**

**_4) I think that's it actually..._**

**_SO REMEMBER: this has all been THOROUGHLY RESEARCHED IN THE BOOKS. While some of it is my headcanon, most of it has been taken DIRECTLY FROM THE BOOKS! If you have issues, go take it up with Uncle Rick. Or look it up for yourself._**

**_I HOPE YOU LOVE IT AS MUCH AS I DO!_**

**_Wow... I'm tired. _**

**_I will try to have the second part up by Percy's birthday! :D_**

**_Review! And all flames belong to Leo (that little cutie. How I love him)!_**


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